


Baking Disasters

by TheJayAgenda



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel), the arcana
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other, also stripping but nothing is actually explained, oh also spoilers for Julians route, rated G for gosh hecking goofy, rated T for makeout in a bath while kinda clothed?, there is absolutely swearing, this is post game, uh also I think swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-18 22:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20199472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJayAgenda/pseuds/TheJayAgenda
Summary: Keri and Jay are best friend magicians who love to bake, and they try and rope their boyfriends in on the fun. Julian is happy to help, while Lucio is a little more stubborn. A group like this was bound to get into some shenanigans ;)





	1. Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my dear friend Keri (FrecklyDork on tumblr) it was an idea that came to us while watching Nailed It together on Netflix and I just, had to write it.

“It was nice of Nadia to let us use the Palace kitchen.” There’s a smile on Jay’s lips. A small huff can be heard from behind them.

  
“It’s my kitchen too....” A golden arm is folded over another as Lucio pouts, sitting on a stool looking like a child.

  
“No, it’s not.” The smile never leaves Jay’s lips as they speak. “Death has a funny way of annulling not only marriages, but royalty status, resulting in loss of property ownership.” There’s a nudge to their side and Jay looks down at Keri, who has her cheeks puffed out gently.  
“Be nice!” She scolds. Jay chuckles softly.

  
“Sorry, sorry, I’ll play nice”

  
“You know,” A new voice chimes in from the doorway, “You’re lucky she lets you inside the palace at all.” Julian emerges into the kitchen with a couple of bags from the market. He strolls over and puts the bags on the counter, leaning down to place a kiss on Jay’s temple. They lean gently into it, smiling wider. “The only reason she sort of trusts you,” he says now unpacking the bags, “Is because Keri trusts you-”

  
“For some reason,” Jay cuts in, looking over the decorations and cookie cutters Julian picked. They hold one up with a quirked eyebrow and a grin “A raven?” Julian swipes it from their hand as they chuckle.

  
“Yeah and?” He says clutching it to his chest.

  
“Nothing, nothing.” They continue to look over the others. “Oh, a star! And a heart!? Oh and this ones-” they keep looking over the cutters with Julian in gleeful fascination as Keri makes her way over to the pouting count. With a gentle, hmph, she hoists herself onto the adjacent stool.

  
Lucio looked over at Keri as she hopped up. He kept his pose for a moment, but as those warm brown eyes gave him a once over, he relaxed a bit, uncrossing his arms. “Can I help you, darling~” He said, almost as a purr. Keri quirked an eyebrow, a smirk playing at her lips.

  
“And here I thought I was coming over to help you~” she reached forward to place a hand on his, and he would deny to anyone that a heat came over his cheeks as she did so.

  
“What could I possibly need help with my dear, I’m perfect!” He puffed out his chest to emphasize the point. From the other stool there was a giggle.

  
“I know you are~” She smiled. Silence settled between them, but just having her by his side was comfort enough to make him feel better (not that he was feeling down by what the other two said, no that's silly, why would you say that, ridiculous, preposterous!). Lucio’s golden arm reached forward to gently caress a loose strand of brunette hair, running his fingers through it with gentle reverence. What beautiful and soft hair she had….

  
“Hey-” a voice cut through their peaceful silence, and Lucio’s head whipped towards the noise with a small snarl “-Keri, darling, do you wanna handle the sugarcookies or the cupcakes?” Jay paid the count no mind, and behind them Julian was getting the stations ready.

  
“Oh, uh,” Keri grabbed her now free hair in her own hand and played with it a bit, “I’ll do the cookies!” She hops down from the stool and take a few steps, but when she doesn’t hear footsteps trailing behind her she stop. Twisting her body she looks back to the count. “Well come on!” She smiles invitingly.

  
“Wha-“ Lucio crosses his arms once more. “Baking is no task for a count!” He turns his face away. “I am merely here to enjoy the spoils of your efforts once everything is done.” His eyes look back at Keri, who merely sighs and smiles.

  
“Alright then.” She wasn’t about to fight him on it. And besides, it’ll be nice to just spoil him with sweets she baked herself! With a bounce in her step Keri made her way over to the counter to start getting her things ready for the cookies. Lucio watched her, gaze transfixed. The way she walked, the way her hips swayed side to side, the way her hair flowed so gracefully behind her. Gentle steps, soft features, a radiant energy... He was just so enamoured by her.

  
The two friends now bustled around, starting to throw things together. Julian made his way out of the fray, lingering back, near, but not too close, to Lucio. He leaned against a nearby wall, looking at the two magicians work. Admiration was plastered on his face as he gazed lovingly at them.

  
Time passed, the room filled with jokes and laughter between the magicians, a comment here from Julian, a remark or two from Lucio. There was a brief bought of silence as they continued to work, Keri now mixing her dough together with determination. Jay leaned back slightly, speaking without actually turning their head.  
“Hey sunshine?”

  
“Yes starlight?”

  
“Can you grab me the flour? I need a little more.”

  
“For you? Of course my love~” The redhead pushed off from the wall and sauntered over to the cabinet. As he fished around for the flour, a realization seemed to dawn on Keri’s face.

  
“Oh,” She turned suddenly to look at Lucio, “I almost forgot to put vanilla in here! Can you grab some for me? Pretty please?” She batted her eyelashes at him. Lucio sputtered slightly, face going only kind of red.

  
“Wha- I… that's no task for a Count!” Keri wilted with a sigh. Before she could make her own way to the cabinet, however, Julian spoke up.

  
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head over it, angel, I’ll get it. Wouldn’t want our ‘precious count’ to strain himself” The sound of stool legs scraping against the floor was heard as Lucio clamors to his feet suddenly.

  
“No hold on I can totally do it!” He says indignantly making his way over to where Julian was. Julian already had the flour in one hand, and rolled his eyes as he watched Lucio approach.

  
“Really. It’s fine. You don’t have to-“ he was saying this as he reached into the cabinet for the vanilla, but his hand was quickly slapped away. “Hey!” He said as Lucio snatched up the ingredient. Julian, now irritated, snatched the vanilla back with his free hand. “Stop being a child.”

  
“You stop!” Lucio whines grabbing it from Julian again. Julian just glowered, going for the vanilla once more, but Lucio was ready this time. He attempted to swipe at Julian but caught the bag of flour instead, and it went everywhere.

  
At this point, Jay had stopped what they were doing to turn around and watch this disaster unfold. They leaned against the counter, hands braced against it. Keri was also watching, but with more concern over the bickering. The two men just stared at each other for a long time, silent. They looked like they were about to lunge at each other when Jay busted out in laughter. They held their stomach and leaned over, their laughter was obscenely loud. The tension in the air seemed to dissipate, and Keri found herself giggling now. They did look ridiculous.

  
The boys looked between the magicians and themselves, the anger easing from their face, forming into confusion, and then, amusement. Julian was the first of the two to join in on the laughter, bringing a hand up to cover his face as he leaned back, a chuckle ripping from his throat. Lucio pouted, and started to attempt brushing himself clean. He mumbled under his breath, but with another glance at Julian, and with the laughter filling the kitchen, Lucio, despite himself, started to chuckle.

  
“I’ll get you for this Devorak!” He said between laughs.

  
“Get me? I should be the one seeking revenge on you for this showering of flour.” He shook his head out in Lucio’s direction, like a dog. White powder rained down from his head, showering the blonde even more. When he saw Lucio grow irritated, it fueled him, and he reached his hands up to better shake the flour onto the blonde.

  
Before lucio could retaliate with anything, something went flying across the room, hitting Julian in the cheek with a thwap. All eyes turned in the direction of the projectile, to see Keri standing in a determined stance, spoon in hand. Julian reached up and whipped the offending projectile from his face, giving it a taste.  
“You threw cake batter at me?”

  
“..... yes?” She said with a questioning smile.

  
“Game on!” Julian now rushed towards Keri with the bag of flour. Well, what was left of it anyway. This caused the girl to shriek with laughter as she started running away, dashing across the kitchen. Jay doubled over with laughter now, watching the two run around. They were so caught up in the merriment that they didn’t notice a certain blonde approach them. By the time they saw the figure, it was too late, and an egg came crashing down on their head. Slowly, brown eyes looked up at Lucio, before Jay straightened to their normal height, mischief and revenge gleaming in their eyes.

  
“Oh, it’s on goat man.” Lucio didn’t stay around to see what Jay grabbed off the counter, but he sure saw the egg flying past his face. His eyes went wide for a second before he chuckled with confidence.

  
“Have to do better than that, magician!” He was feeling too much pride at dodging their attack to notice the suddenly wet floor. In front of him water had mixed with the flour, and he slipped, flat onto his back with a loud thud. Jay leaned over him, grinning ear to ear, before smacking him square in the chest with an egg.

  
“Taunting an elemental based magician was one of many, many wrong choices you have made this day.” They brought their arm back, ready to hurl another egg. Just as they released their throw, another body came hurtling into view.

  
“I’ll protect you my love!” Keri was now strewn across Lucio’s torso, the egg hitting her square in the back. Jay barely had a moment to process this when Julian slipped on the wet floor, crashing into them, sending the last of the flour flying from his hands and into the air. They fell over into a heap on the floor, all four miscreants now wet and covered in flour.

  
Rolls of laughter filled the air. The noise was so loud, none of them heard the two people enter the room suddenly, until they spoke.

  
“What have you guys done?” Came Portia’s voice. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips. “And I wasn’t even invited? I’m hurt!” All four heads turned to look at Portia, and embarrassment crossed over all their faces as well when the noticed Nadia was with her. Julian made an attempt to scramble to his feet, but forgot they were in the heart of the wet flour, and fell flat on his back with a solid thwap. Another short moment of silence before laughter erupted through the room again, Nadia even joining in. Jay was the first person who managed to make it to their feet, and they proceeded to help Keri to her’s. Once she was righted, they moved to help Julian, and Keri went and helped Lucio. Once on his feet, the blonde tried to look suave, shooting a look at Nadia.

  
“Noddy-” he started, but was met with blank stares from almost everyone in the room.

  
“Silence goatman.” Jay said, grabbing some flour off the nearby counter and showering him in it.

  
“I will not ask who started this,” the countess spoke. Despite her words, Julian and Jay were already pointing fingers directly at the count, who put a hand to his chest dramatically in offense. “But I believe we should get this, cleaned up, before you continue. I do believe the kitchen has become somewhat of a... safety hazard.” Her gaze was on the floor covered in water, flour, eggs, and other substances she maybe didn’t want to think too much about.

  
“I’ll cover everything up so you can come back to it.” Portia assured the group. “But, you all look like you could use a bath.”

  
“Yes, I could not agree more Portia.”

  
“Oh perfect!” Lucio said with a cheery grin, grasping Keri enthusiastically by the wrist. “Come, we can use the bath in my wing.~” His voice was a purr as he waggled his eyebrows, the brunette going absolutely red in the face. She stuttered for a moment before the count dragged her off down the hall.

  
Nadia rolled her eyes watching them go. “As for you two disasters,” Jay and Julian swapped exaggeratingly offended glances, grins plastered to their faces, “As always, you are free to use my bath, since I will not need it at the moment.” With rushed thanks the two made their way upstairs, moving so fast they almost ate it on the wet tile once more. Their giggles trailed down the hallway.


	2. Cleaning Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the reason the story is rated T. Just some 'steamy' bath makeouts

Lucio had stopped the first servant he saw in the hallway, ordering them to go start the bath in his wing. The servant scurried off to do so, giving no fight. Nadia may be the one in power now, but the servants still listen to Lucio… to a degree. He had no where else to go after the masquerade fiasco (How he even managed to achieve a physical body is, beyond anyone's comprehension, but the group decided not to think too much about it) so Nadia let him reclaim his old wing. It wasn’t like anyone else was using it. She had just set some ground rules, made sure he very much understood they were no longer an item, and made sure he understood he had no power over Vesuvia anymore. He had been reluctant to agree, and surprising no one he threw a fit, but did eventually agree to her terms. 

“Oh Keri you are going to love my bath~” He cooed. “It is sooo relaxing, and warm.” He smiled. “And we’ll be where no one will bother us~” Keri loved seeing him so happy, excited, and full of joy. His teasing drew a red color to her face as she tried to casually giggle it away. 

“I- it’s your bath, I could go s-somewhere else, I mean I wouldn’t want-” Keri cut herself off when she saw the somewhat dejected look on Lucio’s face.  
“Oh you don’t want to bathe with me…?” He seemed like he was struggling with the idea, and hurt by it. Frantically, Keri waved her hands around to dispel the thoughts. 

“Oh no I do!” Her eyes widened as she blurted that out, and Lucio’s lips turned into a wicked grin. He didn’t let her get in another word edgewise as he continued guiding them to his bath. 

When they entered, steam hung in the air, the smell of fine bath salts permeated through the room, and the air was full of a comforting warmth. The blonde wasted no time, already removing his cape and sash. 

‘W-woa what’re you doing!” Keri says shielding her eyes with her hands. A chuckle erupts from Lucio. 

“Getting ready for the bath of course, you didn’t expect me to bathe in my clothing, did you?” He grins. “Now come on, you’re gonna join me of course.” Keri peaked through her fingers at him to see a look of both confidence and longing in Lucio’s eyes. “...Right?” 

Keri was silently freaking out. Her heart was screaming, yes, of course, I wanna join you, god!!! But her brain was yelling right back do n o t!!! Suddenly with a gentle touch, Lucio reached up to pry Keri’s hands from her flushed face. “You don’t have to be embarrassed around me darling~” He brought her hands to his lips, placing kisses to her knuckles. “If this is however, uh, too much for you I can, uh, turn around while you change into your bath robe?” She nodded slightly. 

“Th-thank you, I think I’d prefer that.” Lucio nodded back at her. The two now faced away from each other, each changing into their robes. Mischievous eyes attempted to sneak a peek, but were met with a towel directly to the face. “No peeking!” Keri squeaked. There was a soft mumble before Lucio went back to getting himself ready. 

The count was ready first, and decided to slip into the bath, waiting for Keri to join him. The robe was a little short for her liking, but it was so very comfortable. The fabric was, amazing, and soft and- Her own thoughts were cut off as she turned towards the bath, gazing at Lucio who had his arms resting around the edge. Wow. It was the only word that could come to her mind. Wow wow wowie wow wow. Feeling eyes on himself Lucio turned to meet Keri’s gaze, waggling his eyebrows as he registered the look on her face. His grin was split from ear to ear. Keri reached down into the water and splashed him.  
“Stop that!” She said, but was grinning herself. He was so ridiculous. 

“Come on,” He basically whines, “I don’t want to take this bath alone~” another waggle of his eyebrows. 

“Alright alright, impatient.” She says climbing into the bath now. As soon as Keri was seated, a strong arm came and wrapped around her, pulling her close. A small yelp escaped her lips in surprise as she found herself straddling the count, whose face was twisted in mischievous glee. 

“Aaaah, much better~” he purred, wrapping an arm around Keri’s waist, pulling her closer to him. “Don’t you agree, princess?” He winked playfully. Keri’s eyes were wide, her face flushed. Words wouldn’t form in her mouth, and they sure weren’t getting any easier when she felt a hand ghost up her spine before holding the back of her neck gently. 

Keri braced herself, hands gripping Lucio’s shoulders. “Just relax darling.” He said warmly, rubbing his fingers through her hair. “If you genuinely are uncomfortable, say the word and I’ll stop.” He places a gentle kiss to the edge of her lips. “I promise.” That seemed to put her at ease, and she smiled. 

“Alright.” She reaches a hand up to card through his hair. He leaned into the touch. 

“That’s what I like to hear~” he leaned forward now, planting his lips against hers. She eased into it, letting her lips melt against his. Lucio used his golden arm to hold onto Keri’s hip, the fabric of her silk robe riding up slightly under the grip. Her legs shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable position to straddle him. 

The kiss was slow, warm, wonderful. Their lips moved together in soft motions. The count let his hand run from the back of her neck, fingertips ghosting across the side of her throat, and reached up to cup her cheek, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. The brunette hummed softly at the sensation. Her hand raked through his hair, moving down the back of his neck to grip onto his shoulders. Her nails dig slightly into the flesh of his shoulder, eliciting a soft moan from the man. The sound was consumed by the kiss, but Keri enjoyed feeling the rumble of it. 

Lucio loved this, loved kissing her, loved feeling the weight of her in his lap. Consumed by the moment, the count rolled his hips up into her eliciting a surprised gasp from the girl as she pulled back. The sudden loss of contact on his lips put Lucio is a sudden daze. He blinked a few times before focusing on her. She was red, and looked suddenly very nervous. A hand reached up to brush fingertips across her cheek gently as he hummed softly.

“I- I apologize darling, did I overstep?” Keri reached her own hand up to grasp Lucio’s as she leaned into the touch.

“J-just a little. I’m sorry…” He hushed her by leaning up and giving her a soft kiss. 

“Don’t be. It’s fine, I promise.” He gave her a charming smile, almost all teeth. “Why don’t we actually clean ourselves up now and go back to the kitchen? We’ve got some cookies to finish, right?” A soft smile spread across Keri’s lips as she leaned down to kiss him once more. 

“That sounds like a plan.” She said against his lips. Neither of them moved immediately, just enjoying the proximity before giving in a kissing once more. 

They did, eventually, break apart and clean the goop and things from their persons. They found clothing set out for them in Lucio’s room afterwards and then made their way back to the kitchen.


	3. The Calm

“Oh, looks like we made it back first.” Keri said as she surveyed the kitchen. It looked immaculate in here. “They sure work fast.” She was in awe. There was even a part of her that thought it looked cleaner then when they came in the first time.

“Of course they do!” Lucio boasted, as if they were still his servants. “What’s the point in hiring help if they aren’t good at their jobs?” He watched as Keri made her way back over to her work station. All her things were laid out nice and neat, and there was a note stating that her dough had been put in the fridge to chill.

“Well we have some extra time it seems.” She said turning to Lucio. “And Jay and Julian will have more to do on the cupcakes so… Do you wanna help me get another cookie dough whipped up?” Lucio looked at her, actually seeming to debate on his answer.

“...Alright.” He finally said. Julian and Jay weren’t here, and no one else was either so, if he messed up, no one but Keri would be around to see. He strolled over to the counter. “What do we do first?”

Keri was basically beaming, excited that he actually agreed. She shuffled about grabbing a new bowl and the ingredients they needed. Lucio seemed determined to impress her, and it made her heart flutter. Letting him do the work, Keri guided him through the steps. Despite his protests earlier to doing any baking, Lucio really seemed to be enjoying himself. It was almost therapeutic, working with the dough, with Keri right by his side. She never made him feel dumb, or like he should know what he was doing. She was sweet, all smiles and giggles as she walked him through the dough making process. At one point he reached over and swiped a flour covered finger across her adorable button nose, covering it, and eliciting laughter from her. He joined right in, chuckling. This, he thought, this was absolutely wonderful.

By the time Jay and Julian finally made their way back into the kitchen, Lucio and Keri were rolling out their original ball of dough so that they could start cutting shapes into it. It seems the countess had also provided outfits for the duo, but Jay had on their scarf again, despite it clashing with the outfit. There wasn’t a question as to why when one looked at Julian who had little red marks and bruises covering his neck.

Feeling Lucio staring at them with a shit eating grin, Jay adjusted the scarf to make sure it was up high enough, even though Julian was wearing his marks like a badge of honor. “What’re you looking at Goatman?” They said approaching their station. They found their batter covered and another bag of flour. They set about mixing in a little more flower while Julian grabbed the cupcake tins.

“Oh, nothing I suppose~” he tried to tease them, but it didn’t garner a reaction from either of the pair. Keri slapped his arm gently, a warning to knock it off. Lucio just chuckled and kisses the side of her head. “Alright alright.” He seemed to be in a much better mood than earlier.

Julian came back over to Jay with a cupcake tin and liners, getting it all set as they finished the batter. “You guys made a second batch of dough?” Jay said, starting to pour the batter into the liners.

“Yeah!” Keri said cheerily as Lucio looked over the cookie cutters. “We figured you guys had more to do with the cupcakes, and all we gotta do is shape these and pop them in the oven, so we made even more!”

“You know what yeah that makes sense.” They said finishing filling the tray. “Are you gunna ice any of yours?”

“Maybe! But that’s easy too. It’s just sugar and water.”

“Also fair.” Jay popped their cupcakes into one of the ovens as Lucio started cutting crown shaped cookies out of the first dough piece.

“Hey there’s more shapes then just crowns!” Keri reminded him.

“None that matter as much!” He teased, and she playfully swatted his hand grabbing a different shape. They started cutting the dough together, and he did concede and grab another shape.

The groups worked in pleasant silence now, just enjoying the act of baking with their partners. Keri popped their first batch of cookies into the oven as Jay and Julian were leaning on the counter, taking turns feeding each other the extra batter on the walls of the mixing bowl.

Keri went to the fridge to grab the second ball of dough. “Alright, let's get this one going!” She said to Lucio. She turned away for a moment to grab a new tray and different cutters and when she turned back Lucio froze, a decent sized ball of dough in his fingers held up to his mouth. “Hey!” She said with a small laugh. Keri reached out to swipe it from the blonde, but before she could stop him he quickly shoved it into his mouth with a triumphant grin. He laughed around the dough in his mouth, causing the noise to be muffled slightly. He swallowed it before leaning over towards her to place a quick kiss on her lips.

“It looked like you wanted a little taste~” his lips are so close to hers as he says it that Keri can feel the motion of his words ghost across her lips. Between the kiss, and his breath right there on her mouth, she really could taste the dough.

“Mmmmm, it was good~” She says as a sly grin crosses her lips. “Let me get another taste.” As she finishes her sentence Keri leans in to capture his mouth with hers. The count is taken aback for a split second before leaning right in to reciprocate. This kiss goes on longer than the first, both of them enjoying it.

When those two had started getting sappy with each other, Julian and Jay had turned to start focusing on deciding what they were doing for their icing. There was a ding on the second oven as the cookies finished baking, and it was enough to snap Keri away from the kiss. “I’ll be right back.” She said with a smile going to grab the first batch of cookies. Lucio just nodded dreamily before setting about rolling out the ball of dough in front of him. He was determined to make these cookies amazing. He was gunna impress the fuck out of everyone.

Keri brought the cookies to the cooling tray at their station as Lucio began cutting shapes out of the new dough. Jay was now sitting on the counter in between their work stations, deciding to wait till the cupcakes were almost cool to make the icing, that way it would be fresh. The brunette now turned to help Lucio with the dough and Jay eyes the fresh cookies. With a grin they reached down and swiped one from the rack and shoved it into their mouth.

“Aw fhuck!” The shout was muffled around the cookie. They fought through the pain and swallowed the cookie, and Julian just burst out in laughter. “Hot!” They said fanning their mouth.

“Well dear, what did you expect?” The redhead asked, his laughter dying down.

“Hey! Did you take a cookie already?” Keri said whipping her head around.

“Uh…. no?” Jay said with an absolutely fake innocent smile. While that exchange was happening the timer for the cupcakes went off and Julian went to grab them from the oven.

“Well I can at least say it was really tasty, Keri.” Jay said trying to dispel the look they were getting from the girl. Next to the brunette Lucio was now getting the new tray prepped with the cookies.

“Maybe tell me how they taste when they’re not burning your taste buds off.” Keri stuck out her tongue playfully, now grabbing the ready tray from the counter. Julian put the cupcakes on the cooling rack as Keri popped her cookies into the oven.

“Does your tongue hurt, love?” Julian asked Jay with a sly look. They put a little pout on their face as they nodded.

“Mhmmm, can you help make it feel better?” They ask with fake innocence. Julian merely grinned, placing himself in between Jay’s legs and leaning down to kiss them.

“Really guys? On the counter?” Lucio said, almost as a whine. Julian and Jay, almost in unison, just waived their hands at him dismissively as they continued to kiss. Keri was back at their station.

“Come on we can focus on the cookie icing.” She said taking his hand. “I’m gunna need your help reaching the sugar anyway.” She smiles, guiding him towards the pantry, and he’s more than happy to follow.


	4. The Storm

Time passes by a lot less eventfully than before. Keri and Lucio get the icing ready for their cookies, which doesn’t take long at all, and Jay and Julian wait for the cupcakes to cool, debating which colors they should make the icing, and what decorations they should use. Once Keri’s cookies were cool enough, the group partook in them together, and Jay had to admit, they were even better now that the flesh on their tongue wasn’t scorching. 

It wasn’t long before the second batch of cookies was ready. Julian went and retrieved them for Keri while her and Lucio began icing the, now totally cool, first batch of cookies. They set out the new batch to cool while Jay started separating egg whites and putting sugar and other ingredients into bowls, getting ready to mix and make icing. 

The count was almost visibly vibrating with excitement. He couldn’t  _ wait _ for everyone to try the cookies he worked on! They had to love them, since he made the effort to work so hard on them. He was of course, the best, and nothing about them could go wrong. After Keri and him finished icing he first batch of cookies, he went and checked the cooling ones, deeming them cool enough to try.

“Here, you guys have to try these, I made them myself!” He boasted, picking a cookie up off the tray, holding it out to the redhead. “Try one Jules! You’ll be impressed.” He grinned. “I’m a natural born baker it seems.” Keri let him take the spotlight, chuckling softly to herself. Moments passed and Julian didn’t move to take the cookie, and suddenly the whole room felt tense. What was happening? 

“I don’t want anything in my mouth that you’ve touched.” Julian’s voice broke the silence as he glowered. His voice was ice as Lucio still held out the cookie. 

“Come on now Jules don’t be-”

“Don’t you ‘come on now Jules’ me!” He snapped pointing a threatening finger. Lucio is physically taken aback, and Keri looks between the two of them with confused fear on her face. A hand reached up to gently lay on Julian’s arm, shushing him softly. Jay was attempting to comfort him. “You can’t just act like you don’t know what you did!” Julian continued, wrapping an arm around Jay. He was attempting to ground himself, grasp onto something comforting. When he was met with a confused stare back the anger on his face only grew. “Really? You don’t remember what caused  _ this _ ?” He said pulling his eye patch off to reveal his read sclera. Silence fell across the room. 

“That was a long time ago!” Lucio snapped back now, remembering his actions.

“It takes more than  _ time _ to fix what you did to me!” He quickly fastened the eyepatch again as Jay now reached up to calmly pet his hair. 

“Julian, it’s alright deep breaths.” They attempted to soothe. “You don’t have to take anything from him. Come on let’s go focus on our icing, alright?” With a hand on the small of his back, Jay guided Julian away from the count and towards the bowls they had started prepping for icing. 

Lucio just stood there, shocked for a few long moments. You could almost see as his body bristled with frustration suddenly. The cookie he had been holding out for Julian to try was crushed into pieces in his hand before being chucked at the nearest wall. “Fine! Whatever!” he yells. Julian tenses, but Jay just rubs gentle circles on his back, paying no mind to the count. They whisper something to Julian, and he relaxes a bit. 

Keri was left standing alone, looking between where Lucio had stormed off, and at Jay and Julian. The redhead had his face resting on Jay’s head, eyes shut as he took calming breaths. Jay didn’t seem to mind, their body was leaning towards his, and they almost looked like if one moved, the other would fall. 

With only another short moment passing, Keri made her way towards where Lucio had stormed off. She thought searching for him would take forever, but she found him only a few hallways down. Lucio was sitting on the floor, Mercedes and Melchior were on either side of him. Mercedes sat up straight, licking Lucio’s cheek gently while Melchior rested his head in Lucio’s lap. He was calmly petting the dogs, seemingly putting himself at ease. His focus was so strong on the dogs, he didn’t even see or hear Keri approaching, so when he saw the brunette from the corner of his eye he jumped slightly, startling Melchior. The dog merely moved his head slightly before placing it right back down. 

“K-Keri!” He said, shooting up to his feet. Melchior and Mercedes huffed, but didn’t protest further. He tried to play everything off, leaning back against the wall with an attempt at a suave grin. “Fancy seeing you… here…” He reached a hand up to run through his hair, trying to keep himself together. Keri just fixed him with a look, and it didn’t take long for him to sigh, sliding back down to the floor. 

“You don’t have to pretend to be okay with what just happened in there Lucio.” Keri walked over to the spot next to him, Mercedes moving so she could do so, and let herself slide to the floor as well so she was sitting right next to the count. She bunched up her knees, wrapping her arms around them and resting her cheek against the top, looking at Lucio. “I may not totally understand what happened…” She starts, seeming to think about her words, “But, they could have handled that better.” She goes with. She sits up, looking at him still. Keri reaches out and takes one of his hands in hers, holding tight. “I know you, and sure, maybe you didn’t do great things in the past, but you’re trying to move forward… and you deserve credit for that.” 

Lucio just looked at her, almost in awe. He gently squeezed her hand back, composing himself. He was Count Lucio, he wasn’t about to be upset or  _ weak.  _ He was about to open his mouth, but Keri saw that look on his face, and put up a hand to stop him. “Don’t put on a face for me Lucio…” Her voice wasn’t harsh, or demanding, it was… almost soft, pleading… she just wanted him to be honest with her. Gold eyes shifted around, not sure where to focus anymore. There was a shaky sigh as the count looked back up to Keri, his face softer. 

“I just-” his words were fast, almost jumbled, “I’m trying to make amends, be better, and they aren’t- god they aren’t even- they don’t wanna listen, or try-” Lucio ran his free, golden, hand through his hair, but he did not dare let go of Keri’s. “I did some irrational things, mean- terrible, things,” He admitted to her, “But, I want that behind me, I want that over with, I want-” he paused, looking down. He honestly couldn’t even believe he had blurted out everything he just had. Silence hung in the air, and Keri gave his hand a comforting squeez. 

“Lucio,” her voice was warm and encouraging, “What do you want?” Golden eyes pierced right through brown eyes as he looked back up. 

“I want to start over, I want to be better…” He admitted. “You make me want to be so much better than I ever have been.” Lucio arched his body forward, leaning his forehead against Keri’s shoulder. The girl reached a hand up to rub his back gently. It was nice, hearing him be so honest. She leaned her face down and kissed the top of his head, letting her face rest in his soft golden hair. 

“I know you’re trying, darling.” She assures him. “They’ll come around, I know they will. Things were great, I just think a nerve got struck, but we can come back from that, together.” She squeezes the hand in hers once more. 

“How?” His voice sounds so defeated. “It’s hopeless.”

“Come now.” She says, “Is the great Count Lucio, magnificent warrior of the battlefield, and champion of Vesuvia going to give up  _ that _ easy?” The body against hers stirred, and he sat up, looking at her. 

“Surely,” She continues, “The ever amazing Count Lucio would never let something like this break his spirit, and he shouldn't let it!” He couldn’t help but grin at her now, leaning in to kiss her cheek. 

“Alright, alright,” Lucio says, his spirits so much higher now, “You can remind me more of how great I am later~” He heaves himself to his feet now, offering Keri a hand. “For now, we have some cookies to go finish.” Keri beamed and took his hand, letting him help her up before they made their way back to the kitchen together. 


	5. Cleaning up (Emotions this time)

Once they returned, Lucio’s confidence diminished slightly upon seeing the other two. He walked into the kitchen and sat right back on his stool a ways back. Keri noticed, and made her way over to Jay, who still had Julian draped over them. 

Jay looked to the side when Keri approached, looking at her. “You went and talked to him?” They asked. Julian didn’t move his head but his eyes moved up to glance at the brunette. 

“Yeah… but can I talk to you now?” Keri look at Julian and smiled reassuringly. “I just need to steal them for a moment.” 

Jay leaned their head up to look at Julian who sighed like this was the hardest thing in the world. “I shall miss you every second you are gone my love!” 

“Each moment away from you will cause agony to rack my heart, but I think we can survive my darling.” Both of them were grinning when Julian released them, allowing Jay to follow Keri out into the hallway. Julian shot Lucio a warning glare, one that tried to read ‘if you so much as open your mouth I’ll destroy you.’ It kept the count in his place. 

“So… what’s up?” Jay asked casually crossing their arms as they stood in the hallway. Keri rung her hands together, a bit nervous about this conversation. 

“Well, I talked to Lucio and, uh, I was just wondering if you guys could, give him more of a chance?” Jay’s response was to lift an eyebrow. 

“Look I’m trying to be nice to Lucio, but-“

“Are you though?” Keri cut them off. “You’ve been making small slights against him all day, and the second Julian gets upset over something, instead of talking it out you stood there, quiet, almost encouraging Julian’s anger, not even giving Lucio a chance to defend himself!”

“I don’t know if you don’t understand-“

“Maybe I don’t! But a lot of this stuff is in the past, and he’s trying  _ really  _ hard to grow past all that!” Keri insisted. Jay let out a huff of air through their nose, taking in Keri’s outburst. They looked down at the floor before they spoke. 

“... Do you really trust him?”

“What?”

“Lucio, do you really trust him that much, enough to defend him the way you do?” They looked up, meeting Keri’s gaze. 

“Yes!” She said with confidence. After what Lucio said to her, how he was so vulnerable for her, of course she trusted him. Jay sighed, letting their arms fall to their sides. 

“Come on.” They said starting to make their way back towards the kitchen. 

“Wha- huh? Wait!” Keri was following behind them now. “What’re you doing?”

“Just trust me alright?” They looked back at the small brunette. “Have some faith in me too.” They smiled reassuringly. 

The duo made it back into the kitchen, where Lucio was just looking at the floor, and Julian was busying himself with tidying up (though there wasn’t really anything  _ to  _ tidy up, so he just kept moving things around as a distraction). Both men looked up when they heard the magicians enter the room. 

“Oh my starlight!” Julian said with glee, making his way over to Jay. “You have returned to me!” 

“Yes my sunlight!” They said taking his hands in theirs. “I will always return to you my love!” They smiled leaning up to kiss him. They stepped away from him once more, though, walking over to the counter where Lucio’s cookies were. 

“Uh… and where, pray tell, are you going my dear?” They didn’t respond, merely picking up a cookie from the tray. They walk back over to the redhead and hold out the cookie. 

“Come on, lets give these a try.” Lucio looked up suddenly. Was that one of his? It didn’t have icing on it yet, so it was! Julian took a step back. 

“Jay…” Julian said in an unsure tone. 

“Julian,” Jay’s voice was soft, calm. “You trust Keri, don’t you?”

“...yes.”

“And you trust me?”

“Of course…” with that, Jay breaks the cookie in their hands in half, holding up a piece to Julian. 

“But he-”

“Has changed.” There is silence. “I know he did something, terrible, to you... and you don’t have to forgive him for that but,” a pause, “People change over the years. We’ve changed... Maybe even stubborn childish counts can change,” They cast a quick glance in Keri’s direction, “with the right motivation.” A warm smile sits on their lips as they look back to Julian, hand outstretched with the cookie. There is still hesitation, but Julian ultimately takes the piece from them. Lucio was looking at the gathered trio now, interested in their exchange. Was Jay, defending him…? He stood up from his stool, watching intently as they duo took a bite of the cookie. The cookie he helped make. Those cookies. Oh god what if it was bad, what if-

“Well, I’ll be, this is ... actually delicious.” Julian’s incredulous voice could be heard. 

“Well shit, yeah.” Jay looked down at the cookie almost shocked. Keri was beaming beside them, then glanced to Lucio, almost vibrating in excitement. 

“I… really?” The count finally managed to muster. 

“Yeah.” Jay gave him a smile. “Really.” Lucio felt comfortable enough to approach the whole group now, looking expectantly at Julian. 

“... Yeah really.” He agreed. “They’re good Lucio.” The count puffed out his chest confidently, and Keri could sense he was about to go on some self centered monologue. She reached towards him, grabbing his hand, and he looked down at her as she shook her head gently. He released some of the air in his lungs and looked at Julian and Jay. 

“Thanks.” He grinned. Jay patted the count firmly on the back. 

“See? Baking wasn’t so bad right?”

“Wasn’t so bad? Are you kidding?” Right back to the dramatics. “Oh it was  _ so _ much  _ work!”  _ The group busted into laughter at the theatrics. There was a comfortable aura in the air once more as the group continued to joke and eat sweets. Jay finished icing the cupcakes, and they were happy to admit that only 2 cupcakes ended up splattered on someones face. There was merriment, and laughter, and chatter until they were called up for dinner by Nadia, where it would continue as well. Julian and Jay, like the children they were, raced towards the dining hall. Keri held Lucio’s hand. 

“I really enjoyed today.” She said, smiling brightly at him. 

“I did too, my dear.” He said pulling her hand up to kiss her knuckles softly. “I look forward to the chance we can do it again.~” They met for a sweet kiss, before making their way down the hall towards the dining room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that!   
Feel free to follow my lovely friend Keri on tumblr at FrecklyDork and Follow my self ship blog at xxTheJayAgendaxx  
I should also be posting my works and taking drabble/headcanon requests at my WIP blog juliansauburncurls  
hope to see you there!


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